US clerk still refusing same-sex marriage licenses could face jail

Even after the US Supreme Court ordered her to start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, the now-infamous Kentucky clerk Kim Davis continued to refuse.

When marriage equality was implemented nationwide earlier this year, she point-blank refused to play ball – and now, even with the threat of prosecution hanging over her, she’s still standing her ground.

According to The AP, she today rejected a same-sex couple’s request for the fifth time, and when asked “under whose authority”, she replied: “Under God’s authority”.

Sheriffs have reportedly now cleared out her office; telling supporters of both sides to leave the premises along with her hundreds of colleagues.

Speaking to reporters, David Ermold – one-half of the couple who has been knocked back repeatedly by Davis – said: “I feel like I’ve been humiliated on such a national level.”

Davis’ husband, Joe, compared Kim to biblical figures Paul and Silas, who were sent to prison before being rescued by God. He said of the gay rights protesters: “They want us to accept their beliefs and their ways. But they won’t accept our beliefs and out ways.”

Because the Supreme Court refused to side with Davis, she too could now face jail time – or, at least, steep fines – should a district judge find her to be in contempt of court.

The United States had been dealing with marriage equality on a state-by-state basis until June 26 of this year when the Supreme Court ruled that individual state bans were unconstitutional; concluding that refusing licenses to couples of the same gender violates the Due Process and the Equal Protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution.